Garden Wildlife UK

I saw a female Ruddy Darter hovering around a reed plant on the edge of a pond I visit a lot and she was egg laying for the next generation so I managed to get some pictures. You can see the eggs coming out at the back of her abdomen and then she flicks them at the reeds where I assume the stick, hatch out in time and make their way to the water below to spend 2 years being a ferocious predator!

Ruddy Darter by Kevin Clark, on Flickr

4Y8A1433.jpg by Kevin Clark, on Flickr

4Y8A1081.jpg by Kevin Clark, on Flickr

Wow, Kev - how very dramatic .

Superb images there Kev mate.

Amazing photos I don't recall seeing any similar ones.

Thanks. Yeah it was interesting to watch. I've seen them before with a male also attached to the head but this one was alone so not sure if that species has a different reproductive cycle but I watched for about 20 minutes while she flicked eggs all around the inside of the reed plant. Not easy to get clear photos and it was a bit dark so I had to throw a lot away due to image noise but I got 3 or 4 good ones out of about 200!

Lovely photos Kev.

Truly stunning Kev